Fossilized light, sound findings lead to revised calculation of 13.8 billion years old

The Big Bang theory says the universe was smaller than an atom in the beginning when, in a split second, it exploded, cooled and expanded faster than the speed of light — an idea that scientists call inflation. It’s based in part on Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity — from about 90 years ago.

“The universe is described amazingly well by a simple model,” said Charles Lawrence, the lead Planck scientist for NASA, which took part in the research. “What is new is how well the model fits both the old data and the new data from Planck.”

The $900 million Planck space telescope, launched in 2009, is named for the German physicist Max Planck, the originator of quantum physics. It has spent 15½ months mapping the sky, examining so-called light fossils and sound echoes from the Big Bang by looking at background radiation.